The 2015 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet for its work in advancing democracy at a time when the country was in chaos, upsetting widely believed frontrunners Angela Merkel and Pope Francis. βThe Quartet was formed in the summer of 2013 when the democratization process was in danger of collapsing as a result of political assassinations and widespread social unrest,β the Nobel Committee said. βIt established an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war.β The group brought together a labor union, a trade confederation, a human-rights organization, and a lawyers group.